Sports injuries and rigorous athletic conditioning, typically disturb normal body mechanics. These minor and/or major disturbances may negatively affect athletic performance. Because of the expertise and extensive training in neuro-musculo-skeletal conditions, sports chiropractic physicians are uniquely skilled in treating the athlete. Doctors of Chiropractic, especially sports chiropractic physicians, are sensitive to joint dysfunction. When a joint is dysfunctional, there are also disturbed neurological reflexes which may result in poorly communicated information to the central nervous system. These diminished reflexes may result in slowed reaction time or may cause muscles to be dysfunctional; tight or inhibited. Numerous studies demonstrate enhanced mechanics of a joint in addition to enhanced nervous system function immediately following chiropractic manipulation.
Most Doctors of Chiropractic earn a bachelor's degree, and many also earn a higher degree, before completing an additional postgraduate program leading to a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. To gain a Sports Chiropractic degree, the postgraduate specialty program encompasses radiology, orthopedics, neurology, emergency procedures, and athletic treatment protocols. The goal is to achieve advanced levels of competency in all areas as a sports physician. The one of the two main competency levels for sports chiropractic is referred to as a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP), which Dr. F. Scott Sebastian has achieved, in addition to Doctor of Chiropractic.